Hi My Name is Tina and I’m A Blackberry Addict

I have worked in the immigration environment for a good while and nothing beats a fast responder. You know those workaholics across all industries who answer emails at all hours of the day or night and wait for hours for someone to get back with them.

The “Sent from my BlackBerry®” used to really impress me. I used to admire my tech savvy BlackBerry® using clients until my husband came home with one…

Gone were the sit down dinners and witty conversations about the day (Oh, who am I kidding..I have 3 young kids, but you get the point). Our FAMILY time is now meeting central with conference emails and texts with upper management, Project Managers, Engineers, etc. Are people really more productive answering texts and emails at 8:00 p.m. and later, then they are at 4:00 – 6:00 p.m? Are these “smart phones” really making us any “smarter?”

Owning a BlackBerry® or any other one of these handheld devices with email and text capability is truly addictive. It is a powerful tool in communication, good or bad, and the ability to answer someone right away, even at midnight, can be tempting beyond control.

So my husband got me a BlackBerry® for my birthday, thinking that I wouldn’t complain so much if I had one too. And it has mostly worked. On my days off, or when we go on vacations or family outings, I am emailing clients…and friends. I am texting any and all BlackBerry® owning friends just because it’s free. I ask people for their PIN numbers so we can instant message later, instead of asking how they are doing right now.

What has happened to what used to be referred to as “down time”? I never thought it would happen to me, a mom first, an employee second, but strides in technology have blurred the line between “office hours” and “off duty” and I am as guilty as the rest.